Rabindranath Tagore`s relationship with sister-in-law subject of a film

Kolkata: Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee is set to essay Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in a film dealing with the bard`s controversial relationship with his sister-in-law Kadambari devi.

The movie, being directed by national-award-winning director Suman Ghosh, will explore the many facets of Tagore`s relationship with Kadambari Devi. Ghosh, who is based in Miami, said on the film`s sets that he had taken help of literary works on the bard like Sunil Gangopadhyay`s `Prothom Alo`, Mallika Sengupta`s `Kobir Bouthan` and Ranjan Bandyopadhyay`s `Kadambarir Suicide Note`. He also sourced materials from Tagore`s biography by Prabhat Mukhopadhyayand as well as books written by Tagore Chelebela and Jibon Smriti. "As suggested by Konkona Sen Sharma, who plays Kadambari Devi, I also went through another book `Jorasanko` by Aruna Chakravarti which recreates the Thakurbari atmosphere in those days," Ghosh said. The director said his research into the subject had unveiled many hitherto-unknown facets of the Tagore household which was aristocratic and far advanced than its time. "There are perceptions and misconceptions about the Kadambari episode in Tagore`s life and we felt a little cagey dealing with the issue. But I felt the subject can be handled in a sensitive manner from a woman`s point of view," Ghosh said. "We went by facts and accounts of the time in books I referred and there was no deviation," he pointed out. The film has liberal references to Brahmo Samaj, the atheist Hindu sect, practised by the Tagore household of the period. Gifted singer Srikanta Acharya forays into acting by debuting in the role of Satyendranath Tagore. Asked about casting Parambrata, the grandson of Ritwik Ghatak, Suman said, "Param has that knowledge, intellectualism, gait, manners. When he did the screen test, it was magical, the change in the whole look." Celebrated percussionist Bickram Ghosh is doing the music score for the film. The shooting for the film started in a north Kolkata zamindari household, very near to the Tagore house in Jorasanko.